Changeable message outdoor advertising sign

ABSTRACT

A LARGE OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGN HAVING A SUPPORT SURFACE AND A LONG, ADVERTISING MESSAGE STRIP ARRANGED IN CONTACT WITH THE SURFACE, EXTENDING AROUND OPPOSITE EDGES OF THE SURFACE AND THE WOUND UPON POWERED ROLLS AT THE REAR OF THE SURFACE, SO THAT THE STRIP IS FIRST WOUND AROUND ONE ROLL TO MOVE ALONG THE SURFACE IN ONE DIRECTION AND THEN REVERSELY IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. ONE ROLL IS REMOVABLE FOR REPLACING THE ADVERTISING STRIP, THE OTHER IS NORMALLY NON-REMOVABLE AND HAS A LEAD STRIP FASTENED THERETO FOR EXTENDING AROUND THE SURFACE TO THE OTHER STRIP WHERE IT MAY BE RELEASABLY JOINED TO THE ADVERTISING STRIP BY A CONVENTIONAL ZIPPER. MEANS IS PROVIDED FOR HOLDING THE STRIP UPON THE SURFACE AGAINST WIND PRESSURES.

Nov. 2, 1971 K S|NGER ETAL 3,616,554

CHANGEABLE MESSAGE OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGN Filed Sept. 2, 1969 2Sheets-Shoot 1 22 F|G I //r' 420 l I |ll|- 5 t 4 /5- 5 g 4 b a." P. :1 gI7 mvsm'ons KARL SINGER LEWIS VOGEL BY Gum), Slmw Ema ATTORNEYS NOV. 2,1971 $|NGER ETAL 3,616,554

CHANGEABLE MESSAGE OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGN Filed Sept. 2, 1969 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS KARL SINGER LEWIS VOGEL Gum, flwaav ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent O 3,616,554 CHANGEABLE MESSAGE OUTDOOR ADVERTISINGSIGN Karl Singer, 26126 Meadowcrest, Huntington Woods,

Mich. 48070, and Lewis P. Vogel, Livonia, Mich.;

said Vogel assignor to said Singer Filed Sept. 2, 1969, Ser. No. 854,449Int. Cl. G09f 11/295 US. C]. 40-31 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Alarge outdoor advertising sign having a support surface and a long,advertising message strip arranged in contact with the surface,extending around opposite edges of the surface and wound upon poweredrolls at the rear of the surface, so that the strip is first woundaround one roll to move along the surface in one'direction and thenreversely in the opposite direction. One roll is removable for replacingthe advertising strip, the other is normally non-removable and has alead strip fastened thereto for extending around the surface to theother strip where it may be releasably joined to the advertising stripby a conventional zipper. Means is provided for holding the strip uponthe surface against wind pressures.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Conventional outdoor advertising signs which areof large size, as for example in the order of to feet high and 30 to 50feet wide, usually have a flat surface upon which advertising is paintedor otherwise applied. Various attempts have been made to provide suchtype signs with changeable message areas such as by using movable orrotatable strips or sign portions which when moved change theadvertising message in the area in which they are located.

However, the large size of such signs, coupled with the fact that theyare exposed to outdoor weather conditions at all times has made itdifficult and expensive to provide changeable message areas thereon. Theexpense of such signs is additionally increased by the fact that theymust work automatically and be easily serviceable by relativelyunskilled personnel.

Hence, the invention herein relates to providing a changeable messagearea on such a large outdoor advertising sign utilizing relativelysimple and inexpensive equipment which may be operated automatically,may be easily serviced and replaced when necessary and has thedurability to resist outdoor weather conditions.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention herein contemplates utilizing anelongated cloth-like strip upon which advertising is imprinted with thestrip wound around a roller, then led beneath and in front of a largeflat support surface against which it is contacted, then around thesupport surface to a second roller, with the two rollers being poweredand sequentially operated so that the strip is first wound from one ontothe other and then vice-versa to thereby constantly change the messageappearing on the face of the support surface. The strip is initiallyprepared in a roll form which is applied to the rear of the supportsurface and is connected to the opposite roll by means of a lead striphaving one end connected to the opposite roll and its opposite endreleasably fastened to the strip, such as by means of a zipper.

In addition, it is contemplated to use additional means, such asmagnetic devices, for retaining the advertising strip in face to facecontact with the support surface despite heavy wind pressures whicharise from time to time.

While the size of the advertising strip may vary, an example of its sizewould be in the area of approximately 10 feet wide with an exposure orsupport surface face area of about 15 feet high. Thus, the ultimatelength of the strip would be many times the exposure area of 15 feet.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to form the sign using large andbulky and difficult to manage advertising message strips formed inremovable and replaceable rolls and supported by the support surface andattachable to an opposite roll by means of a lead strip. With thisconstruction, maintenance of and replacement of the advertising stripsis relatively simple and can be done by relatively unskilled people inminimum time.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent uponreading the following description, of which the attached drawings form apart.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a large outdooradvertising sign.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken in the direction ofarrows 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the advertising message strip andrelated mechanisms for moving it within the sign.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the advertising strip roll and itsconnection to the lead strip.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the advertising message imprinted areaof the strip.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the support frame andillustrates a modification.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a typical control circuit.

FIG. 8 shows a modification wherein the magnetic stripes are arrangedhorizontally on the advertising strip.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional elevational view of a modification, and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view taken in the direction of arrows 1010 ofFIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates a typical outdoor advertisingsign 10 which is of large size, as for example 20 feet high by 50 feetwide, although the dimensions may 'vary considerably. The sign is formedof a suitable box-like structure 11 mounted upon supporting legs 12which may be secured to the ground or some other base support 13. Thesign is provided with a message face 14 upon which advertising may bepainted or applied by adhering printed material thereto.

An open window 15 is formed in the box-like structure to form achangeable message area. Behind the window is a support frame 16 whichmay be formed of a number of horizontal bars 17 to which are connectedvertical bars 18 with a covering screen 19.

Above the frame is a horizontal upper guide roller 20, with a similarroller 21 located beneath the frame and with both rollers supported uponsuitable brackets 22.

The advertising strip 25 is formed of a cloth-like material such ascoated fabric or a suitable plastic cloth upon which various advertisingmessage are imprinted or painted. The strip is formed into a roll 26which is slipped upon a support shaft 27 located at the rear of thesupport frame 16. The shaft is supported upon conventional brackets 28mounted in some conventional manner to the sign structure.

The roll with its support shaft 27 is powered for reversible rotation bymeans of a gear or pulley 29 formed on the shaft and connected by a beltor chain 30 to a reversible motor 31 supported upon the sign structure.

The advertising strip may be of considerable width such as somewhere inthe order of or 12 feet in width and its length is made up by sheets orsections 32, each imprinted with an advertising message on one facethereof, with the sections joined together at 33 by means of suitableconnections such as stitching or adhesive or the like.

The free edge 34 of the roll 26 of the advertising strip 25 is providedwith a conventional zipper half 35 of sufiicient length to extend thefull length of the strip. A corresponding zipper half 36 for connectionto the zipper half 35 by means of a suitable zipper slider 37 is mountedupon a lead strip 38 which is of the same width as the advertising stripbut of sutficient length to fit around the lower roller 21, across thesupport surface formed by the frame 16, around the upper roller and downto a point where its end 39 is permanently connected to a roll 40. Suchroll is mounted upon a shaft 41 supported by brackets 42, with a gear orpulley 43 formed on the shaft for connection by a belt 4 to a reversiblemotor 45.

The lead strip permits the advertising strip to be secured to the roll40 by means of simply zipping the lead strip to the advertising strip orunzipping the two for removal or replacement of the advertising striproll. Once the lead strip and advertising strip are joined together, theroll 40 is powered by its motor 45 so that the lead strip winds upon theroll 40 and in addition takes with it the advertising strip.

The motor 45 is operated until it almost completely unwinds the roll 26and then the opposite motor 31 is operated to rewind the roll 26 so thatthe advertising strip is wound back and forth between the two rolls andconstantly passes along and in front of the support surface formed bythe frame 16.

Since the strip is of such large size, it is subject to rippling orblowing away from the support in unfavorable wind conditions. Therefore,to maintain the strip against the support, a magnetic means is provided.

In one form, as shown in FIG. 4, the magnetic means comprises strips ofmagnetic tape 47 secured to the support contacting face of theadvertising strip. Such tape is commercially available and is flexibleand normally provided with an adhesive backing for securing to itssurface. In this manner, the strip is magnetically held upon the screen19 or the support frame members 17 and 18 where these are made of aferrous, magnetically attractable material.

Where this sort of construction may result in too great a magneticforce, tending to stretch or tear the strip, a second magnetic means maybe used, namely, electromagnets 48 mounted in various places upon thesupport frame 16 with magnetically attractable coating stripes appliedto the advertising strip for magnetic attraction to the electromagnets.Here, instead of operating the motors constantly to continuously movethe advertising strip, the motors may be sequentially operatedintermittently, that is, operated to move a certain length of the stripand then stop and then continue again with the electro-magnets timed toactuate during the time the strip is stopped and to deactuate when thestrip is being moved by the rollers.

Electrical circuitry for controlling the movement of the rolls andelectro-magnets when the are used, are available to those skilled in theart. As an example of such a circuit, FIG. 7 illustrates a power source,shown schematically as a battery 50, connected to a timer mechanism 51which is connected to the motors 31 and 45 and to the electro magnets48. The timer sequences the motor so that one operates at a time andwith the magnets operating between the operations of the motors.

OPERATION In .operation, a workman servicing the sign first installs aroll 26 of advertising strip by placing the roll upon the shaft 27. Thenhe zips the end 34 of the advertising strip to the end of the lead strip38. Next, he actuates motor 45 to wind up the lead strip and tocontinuously wind the advertising strip 25. From then on, the circuitry,such as the timer 51, automatically operates each of the motors, one byone, to move the advertising strip 25 first in one direction and then inthe opposite direction.

For removal of the advertising strip and replacement by another one, theprocess is reversed, that is, the zipper is opened to disengage thestrip 25 from the lead strip 38 and the new roll of advertising strip isreplaced.

MODIFICATION-FIG. 8

FIG. 8 shows the rear face of a section of the advertising strip 25a,having strips of magnetic tape 47 extending horizontally, rather thanvertically as in FIG. 4. The horizontal arrangement reduces bunching andwrinkling of the cloth advertising strip when it is rolled up.

MODIFICATIONS-FIGS 9-10 FIGS. 9 and 10 show a modification whereinvacuum is used to hold the advertising strip 25 (shown in dotted lines)against flapping, The Sheet support is formed as a large curved rigidplate 60 having numerous perforations 61, with a spaced rear plate 62and upper and lower end plates 63 forming a hollow space connected to avacuum pump 65 by a pipe 66. Operation of the pump reduces pressure inthe space causing the advertising strip 25 to press against the plate60. The pump can be timed to regularly turn off for advancing the strip25.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, we nowclaim:

1. A changeable message outdoor advertising sign comprising a supportframework including a vertically arranged fiat support surface;

a flexible, elongated, cloth-like advertising strip, having advertisingmessages imprinted thereon arranged in face to face contact with saidsurface and extending around the rear of said surface, with the oppositeends of said strip secured to powered rolls arranged at the rear of saidsurface;

with the strip length being many times its width and with at least oneend of the strip normally being wound a number of times around itspowered roll;

means for sequentially rotating the powered rolls for first winding thestrip around one roll so that the strip moves along said surface forexposing the advertising messages, until the strip is substantiallyunwound from the other powered roll and then reversing the rolloperation for reversing movement and winding of the strip;

with one of the powered rolls being removable for changing theadvertising strip for another advertising strip having other advertisingmessages imprinted thereon;

and the other powered roll being non-removable and having a lead strippermanently connected to it and being of a length to extend around andover said support surface to the removable roll;

and fastener means for releasable connecting an end of said strip to thelead strip for thereby releasably connecting the strip to thenon-removable roll;

and said support surface being in the form of a perforated plate andmeans for applying a vacuum to the rear surface of the plate for causingthe advertising strip to press against the plate.

2. A sign as defined in claim 1, and said plate being slightly bowedrelative to the vertical.

3. A changeable message outdoor advertising sign comprising a supportframework including a vertically arranged fiat support surface;

a flexible, elongated, cloth-like advertising strip having advertisingmessages imprinted thereon arranged in face to face contact with saidsurface and extending around the rear of said surface, with the oppositeends of said strip secured to rolls arranged at the rear of saidsurface;

with the strip length being many times its width and with at least oneend of the strip normally being wound a number of times around its roll;

means for rotating the rolls for first winding the strip around one rolland then the other roll, so that the strip moves along said surface forexposing the advertising messages;

and said support surface being in the form of a perforated plate andmeans-for applying a vacuum to the rear surface of the plate for causingthe advertising strip to press against the plate.

4. A sign as defined in claim 3, and said plate being bowed relative tothe vertical.

References Cited 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 327,038 9/1885 Thomas 242-741,650,659 11/1927 Sharkey 4031 3,358,393 12/1967 Lewis 4031 10 ROBERT W.MICHELL, Primary Examiner L. ANTEN, Assistant Examiner U.s. c1. X.R. 15242 74

